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So, just got home from a Youth Minister's conference in Chattanooga. First, you all have a nice little Bass Pro Shop down there. Second, on the way in, I crossed Nikajack Lake..... It's a nice, pretty lake from I-24 at 75mph. How is the fishing there? Yes, it's a 7.5 hour haul for me, but I like to hit different lakes for a couple days each spring. Anyone have any experience there? Not looking for hotspots.....just honest, tried and true experience.
mrwillis
I fish mostly on Chickamauga Lake above the damn in Chattanooga. You will never go wrong fishing there. Below the Chickamauga Damn to Nickajack Damn I have heard is always good fishing.
I personally have never fish in the area you describe around New Hope but I did find a link to a report there. Hope it is helpful. I hope you enjoyed you visit here. :fish
Nickajack Lake Fishing Report near New Hope, Tennessee | HookandBullet.com
I have fished it a few times from the bank and it was really good in the fall and would expect the same in the spring. I know Alphahawk has multiple YouTube videos fishing there. Search for trout magnet man on YouTube. He also has a lot of videos fishing the tailwater. It has either been feast or famine when I fish the tailwater there.
I recently moved to Arkansas. The other day when talking to family back in TN they asked what I missed...I thought about it and said "Nothing but family and Nickajack Lake"! It is a fantastic fishery. During spring Nickajack Lake and the tailrace are on fire. Here is link to my channel. You will find all the info you need. TroutMagnetMan - YouTube
Regards
Certainly is a pretty stretch of water. I have fished the lake above and below. Never fished Nickajack
Nickajack is excellent. I mostly float down the river from below the dam but occasionally I will fish the main lake. Never been skunked there. Springtime is Bluegill and Shellcracker time. Bass is yearlong. Crappie has always been hit and miss but worth the effort. All in all it's my favorite fishery in Tennessee. Most days floating down river below the dam with a Ned rig, I'm catching between 20 and forty bass. Most are small but there are lots of good smallies and spots with the occasional Largemouth. The Smallie in the picture is 19" and weighed 3lb. 10oz. and was caught Sunday. Not a lake monster but durn sure a River Monster! One of two 19" Smallies Sunday.
Nice smallie!
Nice catch
For the past 12 years I slayed the fish at Nickajack. I caught some of everything....but I went there for panfish. Here is pic of the last crappie I kept...back in 2016...notice I was bank fishing there. That bank spot produced literally thousands of crappie for me there. After 2016 I was strictly catch and release. That bank spot gave me many a day of 100 fish days. The lake and tailrace also produced thousands of crappie for me. Had I wanted to target Smallies I could have caught a lot more...but the lure of bluegill kept me after them. I did target Spots and lost count of how many I caught there. Here is a pic of the fattest Smallie I ever caught at Nickajack...caught some that went to the 19-20 inch mark and weighed more but this thing was about to pop. Crappie are plentiful there all year. It was rare that I ever posted a crappie report on the forum. But those that followed my channel knew about the prolific crappie there. I first found the bank spot using Google maps and made the 120 mile one way drive to it back in 2010. Did not take a cooler or even a stringer that day... brought 70 crappie to the net all 12-13 inches. Came back the next day and took a limit home. Made that 120 mile drive up until 2015, then moved....bought a boat....and my drive was only 81 miles one way. Continued to fish it until I left TN September 6, 2022. The pic of the Spot is the last fish I caught at Nickajack before moving to Arkansas. To the OP...if you want to get into some good crappie..and some fun bycatches of Spots...red ear....bluegill...Smallies....you need to go to Nickajack.
Regards
Certainly is a fat smallie
Yeah, it looks like that Smallie ate Aphahawks lifejacket!Quote:
Originally Posted by DockShootinJack